


Forgive Me Lord

by therevengeoftheoctopus



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Confession, Gen, Religion, Roman Catholicism, Wild West, church, mostly levi centric, outlaw!levi, outlaw!levi's squad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-11
Updated: 2014-05-11
Packaged: 2018-01-24 10:01:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1600796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/therevengeoftheoctopus/pseuds/therevengeoftheoctopus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Death following him through the country, Levi flees to the one constant of his life. The church.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Forgive Me Lord

Levi hesitated before the door. This wasn’t how his mother had raised him. She’d been a god-fearing woman, one who wasn’t afraid to beat the religion into him. He would ask a ‘blasphemous’ question, and ‘whap’! There would be marks on his cheek for days. 

It was mass every Sunday for him, mumbling along as the congregation proudly roared their prayers. The stiff collar of his Sunday best scratched at his throat, forever uncomfortable, whether it be the freezing cold of winter or the stifling heat of summer. 

Once a week was confession. Talking through a screen to a ‘stranger’. They all knew it was just Father Robb, running a church too small for any helpers more than the occasional volunteer. 

His mother forced the false confessions from his throat. Even during his teen years, when he’d spent more time out on the streets than next to his mother’s bosom, he’d still gone to church. The routine to stitch things together. 

It had been five years since he’d gone to church or confession. Five years he’d been running with his gang. His fellow outlaws, closer to his heart than his own family.

One week since they were gunned down on the border between Nevada and California. 

The police had been following them since San Diego. They’d gone a step too far that time, robbed the house of someone too high up, the head of the Reebs company. It hadn’t hurt that they’d also had to kill the man when he woke up too early. 

They’d caught them on the border between territories, gunning them down in an ambush. Petra, Eld, Auruo, Gunther. All dead in a matter of seconds. Only he and the newest kid had gotten away. 

Eren. He had a fiery spirit and a determination to match it. Not as much raw skill as the others, but that didn’t matter. They’d gotten separated in the chaos. 

In only a few minutes of chaotic violence, Leiv had lost everything he’d had left. Only one thing remained. The church.

He’d made it this far in the last week. Spent the last of his money. Eaten the last of his food. 

And now here he was, standing in front of the church. The outfit wasn’t exactly his Sunday best, but it would have to make do. Let them stare, they with their backwards sense of priorities. 

He pushed the door open. It was cold and dark inside, a lovely contrast to the weather outside. The murmur of voices was the only thing that disturbed the silence.

Levi walked over to a pew and knelt on the hard wood under the bench, crossing himself before sinking down to his knees. He cupped his hands together in front of him, his lips moving in soundless noise. 

He started with the Lord’s prayer. That was a standard, and even though it had been many years since the words had slipped off his lips, he brought them to memory easily. 

As he was leaning back to start the second prayer someone tapped him on the shoulder. He looked up to see a nervous blond fidgeting under his glare. 

The man’s blue eyes focused on him before he smiled. “Do you want to do confession?”

Levi stood up slowly. “Okay.”

“I’m Armin, by the way,” the man said as he led him to one of the benches set up for confessional. He gestured for Levi to kneel. “One of the other priests will be talking to you today. Have you been to confession before?”

Levi nodded.

“Okay, I’ll leave you, then.”

Levi shifted in the uncomfortable position. Kneeling on hard wood- not as comfortable as you’d think it would be. But at least it kept him alert. 

A voice stirred him from his thoughts. “Hello.” If Levi had to describe the voice, it would be something rich, deep. It sounded almost amused. 

Levi stared forward at the screen obscuring his view before making the sign of the cross. “In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. My last confession was 5 years ago.”  
A pause. “Well, don’t let me stop you.”

Levi took a deep breath. He let it out, and then he started. 

It was hard. The words sometimes got stuck in his throat, and he had to pause to claw them out. 

He didn’t want pity. Not that there was a lot in his life that deserved pity. Every bad thing that had happened to him had been his own fault. It had been the choices he had made that had led him here.

He only talked sparingly about the first person he’d killed. It wasn’t supposed to happen. But he’d had to flee from his town anyways, the harsh words of his neighbors biting like summer flies at his heels. 

He talked for longer about his time as an outlaw. Funny. He’d said it as if he wasn’t anymore, but that was wrong. He was still on the run on the run from the law, after all. 

He talked about Petra, Auruo, Eld, and Gunther. How they’d used stage names to hide their identities but it’d just made them easier to find. How they’d been so intensely loyal to him that sometimes he was in awe of them, not the other way around. 

He talked about Eren. The boy had been much younger than the others, but he’d had more determination than all of them. He’d only been with them a couple of months when the others were gunned down. 

The priest was good at listening. He made all his ‘mm-hm’s and comments in the right places. He didn’t ask prying questions, and he didn’t interrupt. 

“Do you have a prayer you’d like to offer to our Father?”

Levi paused to think before he recited the Act of Contrition. “O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended you and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell. But most of all because I have offended you, my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve with the help of your grace, to confess my sins, to do penance and to amend my life. Amen.” 

“Hey,” Levi asked. “What’s your name?”

The man paused. “Erwin. Erwin Smith.”

“Well, the last name wasn’t necessary, but okay.”

He expected a smile to tint Erwin’s voice when he next spoke. Instead, there was something stranger in it. Regret, almost. “I’m sorry.”

“What?” Levi stood up, confused. “What’s going on? What did you do?”

Erwin stepped out from behind the screen. He had blond hair in a perfect part, the bottom half shaved away meticulously. His blue eyes were more piercing than Levi would have expected a priest’s to be. And his eyebrows were ridiculously thick. “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good” he said in a hollow voice.

“For His mercy endures forever,” Levi answered automatically, before scowling and narrowing his eyes. 

The familiar sound of a gun safety being clicked off echoed from behind Levi. “Turn around,” an authoritative voice said. “Keep your hands where we can see them.” We. So there were more people involved. Probably the police or a rival band of outlaws, then. 

He turned around slowly, lifting his hands into the air. He sucked in a breath at what he saw. 

He wasn’t surprised at the many pistols pointed at him. And he wasn’t horrified at the haircut of the man he presumed had spoken, although it was pretty horrific. No. He was more shocked at the pair of bright green eyes staring back at him in shame. 

His breath hissed out between his teeth. Eren. Eren had betrayed him, Eren who he’d been singing praises about just minutes before. 

But then his eyes found the reason the tan boy wasn’t holding a gun like the rest of them. (God, even the kid who’d led him to confessional was here, fingers shaking almost imperceptibly over the trigger). Eren’s hands were held out in front of him, cuffed together. He must’ve been captured. 

Levi gritted his teeth in anger. He was fine with them killing him or locking him away, whichever they chose. But he wouldn’t drag Eren down with him. 

He let out a breath he’d been holding. “Let the kid go,” he said. “Let him go, and I’ll go with you willingly.”

The man laughed, long and loud. “Let Eren go? Oh, you have no idea, do you?” Levi glared at him. “No, Eren is with us. He betrayed you. He showed a little resistance when we caught up to him, which wasn’t surprising. Most undercover agents feel a semblance of loyalty towards those they’d infiltrated. We’ve just got him chained up in case.”

The blonde behind Eren gave him a pitying look. What a softie.

Levi’s shoulders drooped. This was the end. There was no way out. He gingerly set his gun down on the floor and lifted his hands into the air.

“That’s right, Mr. Ackerman.” Levi startled at his last name. The man in charge just smiled grimly. “Eren was a good mole.” Levi resisted the urge to see what expression was on Eren’s face. He told himself he didn’t care. 

A deep voice spoke from behind Levi. “I’ll take it from here, Nile.”

Nile nodded. “Yes, captain.”

So Erwin wasn’t really a priest. Levi wished he could be surprised. 

Erwin walked closer and grabbed Levi’s hands. He guided them behind his back, shackling a pair of handcuffs onto Levi’s wrists. Except he hadn't really. Levi had been in enough pairs of handcuffs to know what they felt like. These weren’t locked. He struggled not to let the shock show on his face. 

Erwin leaned down to whisper in his ear. “Don’t talk. When I give the signal, we run.” He must have felt Levi’s confusion, for he could hear the smile in Erwin’s voice when he spoke agian. “You intrigue me.” Levi’s hackles rose. He didn’t trust this man. 

Erwin stood up straight. “Alright, lower your guns,” he said to the police force. 

Nile wore an expression of confusion. “But, sir-”

“Trust me, I have my reasons,” Erwin interrupted. “Or do you want me to inform the higher ups of your insubordination?”

Nile stiffened. “Of course not, sir. I would never question your authority.”

“Good.” Erwin led Levi forward, the pistol pressed between his shoulder blades. He hoped it was only for show. 

The rest of the police force preceded them out of the church doors, only Eren and the blond kid (Armin?) following behind them.

Eren tried several times to meet his gaze, but each time Levi refused to look at him. He’d shown where his loyalties were at. Now he might as well be dead to Levi.

Erwin made sure the force was well in front of them before he spoke again. “Now!”

They burst forward, ignoring the shouts from the force as they broke away. They sprinted, gunshots ringing from behind them.

Levi flung the handcuffs on and started running in a zig zag pattern. He easily kept up with Erwin, though the blond was much taller.

The sounds of gunshots and panic from the police faded as they got farther into the town. They finally ducked into an alley, panting. 

“Hey,” Levi said grudgingly. “Thanks.” He started to walk away.

Erwin grabbed his arm. Levi stiffened and his eyes narrowed as he whirled around. “What?”

Erwin smiled. “Mind if I come with you?”

**Author's Note:**

> Haha sorry I didn't research law enforcement in the wild west at all so if it's inaccurate that's why. Anyways, please review!


End file.
